Events

It wouldn’t be the holiday season without a delicious, homemade recipe. And in our world those recipes are made with goods we picked up fresh from the market on our bikes. Cue baker, biker extraordinaire Becky Sue Wilberding, creator of BakingTheGoods.com, who brings us a Fall-fabulous, homemade recipe crafted from produce she hauled home from the farmers… Read more »

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It wouldn’t be the holiday season without a delicious, homemade recipe. And in our world those recipes are made with goods we picked up fresh from the market on our bikes. Cue baker, biker extraordinaire Becky Sue Wilberding, creator of BakingTheGoods.com, who brings us a Fall-fabulous, homemade recipe crafted from produce she hauled home from the farmers market in our new PUBLIC Wooden Bicycle Crate. Becky shares her love of biking, her beautiful photography and a mouthwatering recipe for Maple Glazed Apple Cinnamon Pop Tarts (yum!) with us below.

From Becky:
Around age 10, I became the proud owner of a 10 speed white Murray with a lavender and teal graphics package. I’d been pining for a multi-speed for months, and that moment when I first switched gears, I believed I could fly.

I loved and cared for that bike like nothing I’d owned before. I stored it in the garage, hand washed it and added personal flair by precisely placing a Simpsons sticker on the headset and tricked out the wheels with color coordinated spoke beads.

My bike opened up a whole new world of adventures and excitement that I never knew existed. For the first time in my life, I was able to ride anywhere I wanted, on my own terms. Down the hill to my BFF’s. Through the woods and over the dips. To the supermarket to buy candy. Past my crush’s house (feeling mortified when he was outside playing basketball as I rolled by in excruciatingly slow motion). I cruised, I careened, I crashed. It was my first taste of independence, and boy was it sweet.

Sometime during Junior High, riding a bike became the international symbol of Nerd status, and my bike was buried in the garage behind the Pogoball and the Radio Flyer. I survived high school, went on to college and had more jobs than I care to remember. By then, I simply didn’t have the space in my life, or my apartment, for a bike.

Years later, well into my 20s, my husband surprised me with a sparkling electric blue vintage cruiser for my birthday. It had been so long since I’d ridden a bike, but that old adage rang true as muscle memory took over and I pedaled my way through the neighborhood. I rode like the wind and felt myself lift off the ground, pedaling past the moon straight back to my childhood in one of those magical ET moments. That vintage feeling of newfound freedom took over and I fell in love with biking again.

I still get a twinge of nostalgia when I cruise around on my PUBLIC V7. This time of year, between the crisp weather and the saffron-colored harvest moon, those ET flashbacks are palpable.

To capture the spirit of the season, I rode my bike to my local farmer’s market and loaded up on seasonal goods.

There is no better Fall fruit than apples, and seeing them stacked high at the market inspired me to recreate another childhood treat, the Pop Tart.

These Maple Glazed Apple Cinnamon Pop Tarts are made with locally grown farmer’s market apples, transported home with love and care in my handy dandy, vintage-inspired PUBLIC Wooden Bicycle Crate. Quality ingredients, good old fashioned techniques and the combined love of biking and baked goods are what make these Maple Glazed Apple Cinnamon Pop Tarts so special.

We all deserve to feel like a kid again. So, let your inner-child out to play with a long, adventurous bike ride and a batch of Maple Glazed Apple Cinnamon Pop Tarts.

PIE DOUGH:
Chop the cold butter into 1/4″- 1/2″ cubes and place them in the fridge to firm up for a few minutes.

Cut in the butter by blending the flour mixture with either a pastry blender, two butter knives or by squishing it between your fingers. Be careful to not melt the butter.

Slowly pour the vodka or apple cider vinegar into the dough using a pastry blender or fork to combine until pea sized chunks form and the dough is just starting to come together.

Check the hydration level of the dough by gathering a small fistful. If it holds together, it’s ready. If it is dry or crumbly, slowly add ice cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Combine using a pastry blender or a fork. Test the dough again by pinching it occasionally.
*Be careful to add only as much water as it takes to combine the dough into a ball or disk.

Form the dough into two disks and wrap them in plastic. Chill the disks for at least 1-2 hours.

Once your pie dough has chilled, on a lightly-floured counter, roll one disk into a rectangular shape, 1/8″-1/4″ thick.

Using a ruler and a pizza cutter or knife, measure and cut the dough into 4” x 3” rectangles. Gather the dough scraps together, form a disk and re-roll. Then cut more rectangles.

Transfer the rectangles to a lined baking sheet, and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. You should have 24 rectangles

APPLE CINNAMON FILLING:
Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.

Peel the apples and grate them using a cheese grater.

Top 12 dough rectangles with about 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons of grated apple. Then top each with 1 heaping tablespoon of the brown sugar mixture, leaving about 1/2 “ of exposed dough all the way around.

Lightly brush a small amount of cold water around the edges of the of the dough. Place another rectangle over the filling and gently seal the edges by pressing down the edges. Create a decorative crimp by pressing the edges of the tart together with the back of a fork.
Place the pop tarts back on a lined baking sheet, chill in the refrigerator or freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Whisk the egg in a small bowl.
Remove the chilled pop tarts from the refrigerator or freezer. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the pop tarts with the egg wash.

MAPLE GLAZE:
Sift the powdered sugar and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Whisk in the maple extract and 1 – 2 tablespoons of cream until the mixture runs off the whisk like slow molasses.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of glaze onto each pop tart, smoothing the glaze to the crimped edges with the back of the spoon or a small spatula.

Allow the glaze to set before serving (if you can wait that long!).

Becky Sue Wilberding is the creator/brainchild of BakingTheGoods.com, an online pantry full of recipes and the saucy, often embarrassing real-life stories from which they were inspired. She’s a baker, recipe developer, stylist and photographer who documents every step of baking with mouth-watering visuals. Becky aims to first punch her readers in the tastebuds with stunning photos, then inspire them to make her recipes a part of their own little life adventures.

There’s a lot of good in this world and we want to make it known. Starting this month, we’re launching the #DoPublicGood project. Each month we’ll highlight people or organizations that do good by bike. And we’ll be taking part ourselves. Follow us on Snapchat (publicbikes) and every Thursday watch our story as we pick up donated… Read more »

There’s a lot of good in this world and we want to make it known. Starting this month, we’re launching the #DoPublicGood project. Each month we’ll highlight people or organizations that do good by bike. And we’ll be taking part ourselves. Follow us on Snapchat (publicbikes) and every Thursday watch our story as we pick up donated food and bike it to a shelter in the Bay Area through Food Runners.

If you have a nominee for #DoPublicGood, please let us know in the comments and if selected, we’ll send you both a PUBLIC gift certificate.

Image by Jenny Oh Hatfield

For November we thought it fitting to highlight a very special Bay Area bike event that takes place just once a year around this time called Supermarket Street Sweep. It’s an “allycat” or urban bike race-style event where volunteers courier pounds of food from participating grocery stores via their bikes to a local food bank.

Supermarket Street Sweep is in its 11th year, and it almost went into extinction until the San Francisco Cycling Club decided to take up the reigns just a few months ago. (Kudos to you SFCC!)

One of Supermarket Street Sweep’s original founders, Jenny Oh Hatfield, explains the premise, “For our event, participants buy food from a list of participating shops and that food is directly donated to the SF & Marin Food Banks at the end of the event. Cyclists can compete in three categories: SPEED (bring back the required amount of food the fastest within the race’s time limit); CARGO (bring back the most food); TEAM (this is a new category and up to 5 people can work together to bring back the most food.) Racers carry back their hauls — via backpacks, panniers, cargo bikes and trailers — and all of the groceries are weighed by the food bank and our team of volunteers.”

Image by Jenny Oh Hatfield

You don’t have to be a hardcore cyclist to participate. Hatfield says that part of the fun is seeing the diverse group of riders that this event brings. “We get road racers, commuters and even kids who have a ton of fun helping such an important charity. We structure the format so if you wanted, you could spend the afternoon riding around with your friends and bring back as much food as you like to the food bank.”

Image by Jenny Oh Hatfield

And the amount of food people transport on two wheels for the event is incredible. In 2015 over a hundred racers took part and hauled more than 12,200 lbs of food. One racer alone carted over 1,000 lbs!

Registration is open for this year’s Supermarket Street Sweep that takes place on Saturday, December 3rd 2016. Stay up to date on announcements and prize previews on Instagram and Twitter (sfstreetsweep). If you’re not in the Bay Area, you can still get involved by visiting cranksgiving.org to find a similar event in your neighborhood.

We’re excited to announce that we’re partnering with Sony’s Future Lab Program to help introduce the prototype Concept N to the Bay Area and beyond. Our flagship PUBLIC store in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley will serve as a hands-on demo location between September 15-October 6 where visitors to our 549 Hayes St store can test… Read more »

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We’re excited to announce that we’re partnering with Sony’s Future Lab Program to help introduce the prototype Concept N to the Bay Area and beyond.

Our flagship PUBLIC store in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley will serve as a hands-on demo location between September 15-October 6 where visitors to our 549 Hayes St store can test out Sony’s new wearable technology Concept N.

You might also recognize our Slate Blue PUBLIC R16 flat-bar city road bike in the video above.

What is Concept N? It’s a neckband-style wearable device, designed by Sony’s Future Lab Program, that allows you to listen to high-quality sound, hands free, through an open-air speaker.

Several of us at PUBLIC have had a chance to try Concept N. We’re particularly excited that you can hear clear voice-navigation to help you find your way around your city, easily use voice-recognition to find resources and places, and even take photos and video of your surroundings without taking your smartphone out of your pocket or bag.

The open-ear headphones, if you choose to use them, allow you to listen to music or news while still hearing what’s happening around you. The device feels very lightweight around your neck. If you wear collared shirts, it can also fit nicely under your collar too.

Right now, the prototype is only available in the Bay Area for a very select, limited number of participants who can provide feedback on how they use the device in their daily lives. Between September 15-October 6, you can demo Concept N at our Hayes Valley PUBLIC store at 549 Hayes.

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can apply to participate in the early adopter program for Concept N.

After you apply to be considered for the program, The Future Lab Program will invite potential participants to several special events in San Francisco in late September and October.

PUBLIC is proud to support Black Girls Do Bike and their efforts to promote healthier lifestyles. We interview founder Monica Garrison below. Also learn more about the upcoming June 10-12 Black Girls Do Bike’s first National Event in Atlanta. PUBLIC Interview With Monica Garrison, founder of Black Girls Do Bike What was the inspiration behind… Read more »

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PUBLIC is proud to support Black Girls Do Bike and their efforts to promote healthier lifestyles. We interview founder Monica Garrison below. Also learn more about the upcoming June 10-12 Black Girls Do Bike’s first National Event in Atlanta.

PUBLIC Interview With Monica Garrison, founder of Black Girls Do Bike

What was the inspiration behind launching Black Girls Do Bike? Tell us about coming up with the name.

The inspiration came after re-discovering how much I enjoyed the simple act of riding my bike in the spring and summer of 2013. I was reaping the physical and mental benefits and my children were joining me and learning to survive without their electronic devices. In my travels I quickly realized that there were very few women who looked like me out riding.

BlackGirlsDoBike.com was an attempt to seek out like minded women who had a passion for cycling but also to inspire those bike-curious lady who were just an obstacle away from cycling regularly. I chose to state it in the affirmative, “Black girls do bike!” as if to say that each time a women of color takes a ride she is reaffirming this truth to herself and to others.

Tell us more how Black Girls Do Bike is currently structured across the country and how volunteer leaders communicate and support each other?

Each of our chapters is led by a lady volunteer who we affectionately call a Shero. Each Shero at some point reached out to me with a desire to encourage more women in their community to ride bicycles. They lead rides, moderate their city’s individual Facebook group pages, network with local bike shops and bike/ped organizations and seek to be an overall voice of positivity and encouragement.

Internally all of our Sheroes are part of a secret Facebook group that we use to support one another in this endeavor. We offer praise, advice, frustrations and suggestions for success. We also have a Shero only password protected website with all the need to know stuff.

What has surprised you about the being recognized and involved as a voice in the national bicycle advocacy movement?

The funny thing is that 4 years ago I didn’t even own a bike and had never participated in an organized bike ride of any sort. What I had was a desire to ride and that has set me on a truly life changing journey. It has been such a whirlwind for the past couple of years to be at the helm of such an amazing organization.

Now I find myself mentioned as a voice in the national bike advocacy movement. I am much more comfortable being considered a voice in the national women’s advocacy movement. Either way we are busy in the work of empowering women with the help of bicycles.

Tell us about your upcoming June 10-12 National Meetup “We Ride Together” in Atlanta? What do you hope to accomplish?

Our main goal is to make a mark on the Atlanta Tour De Cure by having a large presence and raising a lot of money for a great cause. Diabetes affects African American families and specifically AA women at disproportionately high rates so for many of us this is personal.

We chose Atlanta as the spot for our first national meetup as our chapter there is our largest with more than 1200 supporters. The weekend will consist of three days of bike related events. REI CoOp has pitched in to help with the needs of our ladies who are traveling in from out of town and will need their bikes assembled.

Civil Bikes has offered our members discounted rates on bike related historic tours around the city. The weekend will end with a celebration in the form of a relaxed recovery ride along the Atlanta Beltline. We will end up at Piedmont Park with a luncheon and festivities to be held at the beautiful Magnolia Hall. We have more than 15 sponsors so our giveaways at this event will be epic.

Some of the main reasons people cite that they don’t bike is that they perceive it as an unsafe or inaccessible activity — dangerous public streets, not enough protected bicycle infrastructure, access to trails and bike paths is far and too infrequent. Are there other obstacles – perceived or real – that you think are specific to encourage more women of color to get on a bike?

I believe there are many points of overlap in terms of why people shy away from riding bikes. Many women of color are overweight or obese and those with negative body image issues are less likely to try a new form of exercise with people they don’t know or trust. Our offer to include riders of all levels in our groups rides, which are “no women left behind”, can help those who might not want to tackle new and unfamiliar activity on their own. A friendly Shero who is willing to accompany a new rider to the local bike shop and help her navigate decisions of what type of bike and accessories to purchase can be invaluable. Surprising many women did not learn to ride in childhood so they are even more apprehensive to start as an adult.

What’s next for Black Girls Do Bike after the National Meetup? What other initiatives, events, and partnerships are you looking forward to?

We are also working on a process to have all of our leadership formerly become certified ride leaders by developing our own course or taking advantage of an education program already in place. We have been contacted by some big names in the cycling community who want to help us further the reach and mission of BGDB. So we plan to pursue those leads and form some strategic partnerships.

I like the idea of having BGDB ladies from all over the country converge on different cycling events to increase our visibility. Events like NYC’s 5 Boro Bike Tour, Alabama’s Bo Bikes Bama, Maryland’s Seagull Century the Tour de Cure series and many more. If our national meet up this June does what it seeks to accomplish, we may make this a biennial event.

Ever since we launched PUBLIC over five years ago, customers have asked us: When are you going to design and produce a PUBLIC unicycle? At PUBLIC, we think bicycles are the most efficient form of transportation. And the unicycle, in our humble opinion, is truly Mass Transit For One. No longer simply the transportation mode… Read more »

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Ever since we launched PUBLIC over five years ago, customers have asked us: When are you going to design and produce a PUBLIC unicycle?

At PUBLIC, we think bicycles are the most efficient form of transportation. And the unicycle, in our humble opinion, is truly Mass Transit For One.

No longer simply the transportation mode of choice for street performers and circus acts, the unicycle is becoming more commonplace in cities around the world. While hoverboards are gaining all the latest headlines, the unicycle is quietly re-emerging as a retro-alternative.

Since we only plan to produce a few hundred PUBLIC U1 Unicycles, we encourage you to pre-order now for only $99. They will be available to ship one year from now on April Fools’ Day 2017.

If you’re one of the first 25 customers pre-ordering our PUBLIC U1 Unicycle, we’ll also throw in special limited edition PUBLIC colored juggling balls and a multi-purpose clown suit for your daily commute or street performance.

PUBLIC Bikes is celebrating its Santa Monica store opening with its first (of many) monthly “Go PUBLIC” bike rides. Invite your friends on Facebook. This inaugural first ride is going to be sweet (pun intended)! We’ll meet at the PUBLIC Bikes store at 2714 Main Street in Santa Monica at 11am, then make our way… Read more »

Your first doughnut and coffee is on us for the first 24 people who show up on the ride who also RSVP on Eventbrite. You must register using the ticket link above to qualify for the free doughnut and coffee. And if you’re not one of the first 24 registered riders, please still show up and enjoy the ride!

This is a BYOB (Bring Your Own BIKE) event. The casual round trip bike ride is ~4 miles. We’ll be riding on streets with traffic as a group.

This is a casual bike ride. You don’t need to be a PUBLIC customer or ride PUBLIC bikes. This is open to anyone who shares our passion for bicycles and doughnuts.

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS
We have some other fun things planned for the Spring and Summer as well.

Earth Day volunteer ride to give back to the community.

In May, we will inaugurate The PUBLIC GOOD, a series of co-branded content series with GOOD which will feature prominent figureheads within the design, art and cycling community to discuss urbanist, sustainable topics.

During the month of May, we are partnering with LA Metro to promote Bike Month by hosting a Bike to Work Day Pit Stop and to co-sponsor an event with a local non-profit.

In June, PUBLIC will take part in Santa Monica’s first ever “open streets” event to celebrate the sustainable community.

Each month something new and exciting will be happening at our PUBLIC Santa Monica shop – in-store “pop-ups” featuring local artists, designers and businesses, along with classes, programs and partnerships. Our goal is to make the PUBLIC Santa Monica store a community hub where people come to live, learn and ride. Sign up for our e-mail list below for more details and updates.

Sign up for Santa Monica updates:

What comes to mind when we write “freeway underpass?” It’s likely that whatever you pictured didn’t involve thoughtfully composed landscaping, actively used pathways or cool art installations. This article by Alissa Walker explores how cities across the country are reinventing the underpass, perhaps one of the most neglected of city spaces. Reinventing public space into… Read more »

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Underpass Park in Toronto, Canada

What comes to mind when we write “freeway underpass?” It’s likely that whatever you pictured didn’t involve thoughtfully composed landscaping, actively used pathways or cool art installations. This article by Alissa Walker explores how cities across the country are reinventing the underpass, perhaps one of the most neglected of city spaces.

Rendering of The Underline in Miami, Florida

Reinventing public space into something that’s actually usable for the public is near to our hearts. Examples we’ve written about before are projects like PROXY in San Francisco and the High Line in New York City, two urban areas that were reinvented from parking lots and derelict elevated railway lines, respectively, as spaces for people to hang-out, play and enjoy.

Inspired by Alissa’s article, we set out to find a few more examples of reclaimed underpass space in cities near PUBLIC Stores. If you’ve been to an underpass park or live near one, drop us a line with a photo and we’ll add your city to this list!

1. Burnside Skatepark in Portland, Oregon
Once a renegade spot for illegal skateboarding, Burnside Skatepark was getting so much use it eventually won favor from the community and became city approved.

2. I-5 Colonnade Mountain Bike Park in Seattle, Washington
Cool story. The I-5 Colonnade Mountain Bike Park in Seattle was built by a team of volunteers and includes over 2 acres of bike track and walking paths. It’s part of a larger 7.5 acre park.

3. SoMa West Skate and Dog Park in San Francisco, California.
The SoMa West Skate and Dog Park in San Francisco includes a sanctioned space for skaters to shred and a little artificial turn for letting city dogs run around.

4. Proposed Wildlife Overpass in Los Angeles, California.
Ok, so not an underpass, but worth mentioning. This proposed 165-foot-wide, 200-foot-long overpass would allow large carnivores like wildcats and bobcats a means of getting from one set of mountains to the other without ending up as roadkill.

SUBMITTED BY OUR READERS
Christine writes: “San Jose just finished a public art project under two underpasses in downtown.”

Art display under Highway 87 in San Jose, Photo by San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs.

SM writes: “New Orleans has a skate park called Parasite built under the freeway. It was built by Tulane City Center, a LLC ran by Tulane Faculty, Tulane School of Architecture Students and community member/organizations.”

“The bicycle is an instrument of peace. It’s the most democratic means of transportation for all mankind.” – Massimo Cirrus & Sara Zambotti We love the bike for the simple pleasure it brings to us –– the smile it puts on our faces and the way it helps us connect with our local communities. When… Read more »

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“The bicycle is an instrument of peace. It’s the most democratic means of transportation for all mankind.”– Massimo Cirrus & Sara Zambotti

We love the bike for the simple pleasure it brings to us –– the smile it puts on our faces and the way it helps us connect with our local communities.

When reflecting on the true nature of the holidays and the crazy, often violent world we live in, two Italian radio hosts are encouraging us to reflect on the bike’s role in history and its humanitarian benefits.

The hosts, Massimo Cirrus and Sara Zambotti of the Rai Radio 2 network in Italy, are nominating the bicycle for the Nobel Peace Prize. “The bicycle is an instrument of peace,” they write on their blog. “It’s the most democratic means of transportation for all mankind; it does not cause wars and pollution; and it decreases car accidents.”

While the Nobel Peace Prize is generally given to individuals or organizations, think about the bike as a messenger of peace the next time you take a spin. The bicycle helps reduce our dependency on oil, it supports healthier lifestyles, and makes our cities more livable.

The bicycle was viewed as wheels of change – a liberating vehicle by early feminist leaders. Susan B. Anthony wrote: “Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”

And the bicycle, as World Bicycle Relief admirably states, “helps people prosper” by closing the distance to schools, jobs, and sources of water and food. Watch the video below.

While we sometimes take for granted the bicycle as a democratic instrument of peace and empowerment, we also love that almost anyone can ride a bicycle – rich and poor, young and old, and yes, even Nobel Peace Prize winners. We rounded up a few examples below.

Images from @meghantelpner on Instagram. Scrolling through our Instagram feed one day we were surprised to find a few photos with the most tasty shots of our limited edition PUBLIC C7 bike in yellow. Tasty because the color alone reminds one of bananas (the power fuel of PUBLIC employees), but also because the bike was… Read more »

Scrolling through our Instagram feed one day we were surprised to find a few photos with the most tasty shots of our limited edition PUBLIC C7 bike in yellow. Tasty because the color alone reminds one of bananas (the power fuel of PUBLIC employees), but also because the bike was paired with the most delicious and colorful assortment of food.

We reached out to this foodie + bike lover and learned that she was Meghan Telpner, a Toronto-based author, speaker, nutritionist, and founder of the Academy of Culinary Nutrition. Turns out she got the yellow PUBLIC C7 bike from her local bike shop Cycle Couture and was using it for a photo shoot she was staging for her upcoming cookbook.

We’re excited to announce that Telpner’s cookbook, The UnDiet Cookbook, launched just this week. Congrats, on your new cookbook Meghan! The photography is beautiful (not just because our bike is featured throughout 😉 and the recipes are plant-based and friendly to nearly every diet.

It’s our pleasure to share a recipe from her cookbook that we think would make great fuel for before or after any bike ride. Enjoy!

Labor Day is our nation’s tribute to the contributions of workers around the country. So we wanted to take a moment and salute those who labor by bike. Be it bike messangers who haul packages and mail, pedicab drivers who steer people from point a to be or those incredible bike couriers who are able… Read more »

Labor Day is our nation’s tribute to the contributions of workers around the country. So we wanted to take a moment and salute those who labor by bike. Be it bike messangers who haul packages and mail, pedicab drivers who steer people from point a to be or those incredible bike couriers who are able to get our pizza to us (still hot) and fresh flowers delivered on time to a special someone. We applaud this awesome pedal power and offer our high fives in the form of photos here.